Cleaning Clear Plastic on the Instrument Panel

I

imported_HiTek21

New member
What is the best way of cleaning the clear plastic over the instrument panel without scratching the plastic?



On my tacoma it has 3 round openings for the gauges so its difficult to wipe with a microfiber towel, the plastic is super soft because I tried to dusting it with the meguiars slide lock brush but the small area I brushed had little scratches, i've also tried a can of compressed air but the dust is stubborn.
 
for cleaning interior plastics, stereo faces, dvd screens, tinted windows, or anything else that is scratch sensitive, i find the eurow shag towels work best IME. these are the only microfiber towels i use that touch those areas...



10-pack%20ShagR.jpg
 
Neofate said:
What about cleaners for these areas? Anything? Water? Any magical product you've found?
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You can use some glass or multi-surface cleaners on plastics but check the label first. For ex. Surf City claims it is safe for all interior surfaces (glass, plastic, etc). I would moisten the MF towel first and wipe lightly.



There are other products like Meguair's Plastic Cleaner (#17) that are designed especially for clear sensitive plastic surfaces like the instrument panel or LCD screens.
 
I was wondering how you guys are cleaning the clear plastic over the gauge cluster. Since this thread was started in 2008 I was thinking maybe there was a newer better method ? Thanx for any help.
 
Stokdgs- thnx for the fast help,,,should I dedicate the softest MF that I have for doing this or should I use a glass purpose MF ? Sorry for all the questions but I dont want to scratch it any more then it already is.
 
phahn said:
I use a soft MF with Plexus, and get outstanding results...

Pete
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That is what I use (Plexus Plastic Aerosol) and the suede microfiber I have comes from Korea for cleaning plastic, and it is dedicated to cleaning plastic lens ONLY. I also use the Meg Mirror Glaze Plastic Twins (#17 Cleaner and #10 Polish) to polish out scratches, but I do not have a lot of success with them!

Most plastic lens scratches are caused by:
1) Dirt or dust on the lens itself. It is best to clean this first with some type of mild APC and a very soft microfiber (like Meg`s Detailer Line D101 APC diluted 10:1)
2) Using an ammoniated window cleaner (Like Windex or bargain window sprays). Specific plastic cleaners/polishes should ONLY be used.
3) Wiping them off with paper toweling. Use only as soft suede-type microfiber.

I see that McKee`s 37 has a similar product to Plexus, called Plex-All. One thing about Plexus is that it is very expensive and I have found it over-the-counter (OTC) at boating/sailing supply shops in my area. I also found the Novus line of plastic cleaner/polishes (there are four of them, #1 thru #4) at a local plastic supply company that sells Plexiglass (AKA, polycarbonate clear plastic) to local food and paper processing machine manufacturers for operator guarding and hockey rinks for their end board "glass" to protect fans.

Now that I think of it, there are a number of eye-glass spray cleaners and microfiber clothes (Ziess comes to mind) that may be applicable to the cleaning of plastic instrument panel lens/covers, seeing how most eyeglass lenses are now made of polycarbonate. Humm....!

AND, since we are on the subject of plastics, Bio-Kleen makes a screen cleaner and microfiber kit for touch screens. This, again, was something I found at the boating/sailing supply shop and was told that sailors liked it for GPS navigation screens and boaters for their fish-locating screen. I know that many vehicles now come standard with some type of touch screen for information/navigation and vehicle controls, and getting the finger prints off can be a real pain without damaging or scratching the screen!
 
I use Optimum Opti-Clean on my entire interior, including gauge lenses and touch screens. With a good soft MF, it works well. If scratches are already there, I`ll polish bad marring with Meguiars Plast-X, followed by Meg`s #17, or just the #17 for minor stuff. I`ve restored some nasty interior plastics with that combo and a lot of patience.

Bill
 
Fishing said:
Stokdgs- thnx for the fast help,,,should I dedicate the softest MF that I have for doing this or should I use a glass purpose MF ? Sorry for all the questions but I dont want to scratch it any more then it already is.
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Glass is a lot harder than plastic so I`d be leery of using a MF for Glass. I`d use the softest MF you have. Even after all these years, I`m amazed that the original poster used that Meguiar`s Brush on such a surface...gotta be very careful about using any brush on any surface.
 
Fishing said:
Stokdgs- thnx for the fast help,,,should I dedicate the softest MF that I have for doing this or should I use a glass purpose MF ? Sorry for all the questions but I dont want to scratch it any more then it already is.
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Mi Amigo, Fishing !

I have used my softest, perfectly clean, looked at carefully for anything it might have picked up, microfiber, spray a little on the microfiber, and gently go over in straight lines as much as possible, the gauges.. This product always gets all the zillion fingerprints off of those Nav screens perfectly..
They always turn out great, and I have never had any problems, etc., with this product or process..

There are a lot of choices here and I am sure they are also very good too!
Dan F
 
Some day the scratched plastic faces of the Tahoe and Crown Vic just might bother me enough to do something. Maybe even something other than just replacing them ;) Sounds like the Usual Suspects are still popular...wonder if any of mine are still good after all these years.
 
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